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Alex Davidson reports on France's latest psychological thriller (aka Mark of an Angel), starring the wonderful actresses Sandrine Bonnaire and Catherine Frot.

Two of France's greatest living actresses star in this psychological thriller which grips the viewer until the closing shot. The title – L'empreinte de l'ange in the original French – refers to the mythical mark left by angels on every newborn’s head, by which the mother will always know the child is hers.

Catherine Frot plays Elsa, a divorced mother with a history of mental breakdown, caused by the death of her daughter in a fire six years previously. At her son’s birthday party she spots a young girl and becomes obsessed with the idea that she is her deceased daughter. She infiltrates the life of the girl’s mother (Sandrine Bonnaire), and the infatuation turns increasingly sinister.

A lesser film would tell this story from the point of view of Bonnaire’s character, depicting Elsa as a psychotic threat to her family, but Safy Nebbou’s direction is far shrewder. Elsa may be damaged, but she is sympathetic, and the audience, like her, needs answers. A wonderful scene played at the girl’s ballet performance is unsettling, menacing and moving all at once and is one of the scenes of the year.

 

Alex Davidson on 20th October 2009
View all 216 of Alex Davidson's reviews